


Idlywild

by SophieD



Series: Anything for you [2]
Category: Leverage
Genre: Camping, F/F, Favors, Femslash, Lesbian Relationship, Promises, camp toilets, campsite, motor home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-23 18:34:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4887472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophieD/pseuds/SophieD
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sophie promised Tara a weekend.  Tara decides to take her camping, something Sophie REALLY doesn't want to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Idlywild

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second part to "Tara's Place". It takes place late in the first season. Leverage is still in Los Angeles and Sophie has not introduced Tara to the team yet.

I'm sitting at my desk in the Leverage office, idly pushing buttons on my computer. It's been a long week of doing nothing. Nate's been looking for jobs but hasn't come up with anything good yet. He's been driving Hardison crazy chasing different CEOs, trying to find someone that he hates enough to take down. And of course there needs to be a client, somebody who's been wronged. Hardison keeps looking to me for help but I'm staying far out of the way. Parker and Elliot are nowhere to be seen.

 

Los Angeles seems to shut down on Friday afternoons. Every one is out on the freeway, sitting in traffic, cursing their long commutes home. I'm hanging out, just waiting for a decent time to pack up and leave. My peace and quiet is disturbed by a car horn honking down on the street. It's one of those damn car alarms, like anybody cares anymore. It stops after a few honks then starts up again. "Bloody wanker!" I swear at no one in particular.

When the alarm starts again, for the third time, I slam my hands down and start looking for my purse. My temper tantrum is interrupted by Parker sticking her head into the office. "Hey Sophie you gotta come see!" "What is it Parker?" "I'm not sure "she says. "It's some sort of funny truck. I went to go look but the lady inside said I needed to come get you." I roll my eyes. "You need to take care of this Parker. I'm going home." "But she wants to talk to you." "There's no one I need to talk to. Go tell her to sod off."

Parker's eyes get large. "I can't tell her that!" "Fine then just tell her I'm not here." Parker gives me a perplexed look. "But you are here." I give her a bit of the evil eye. "Lie Parker." She starts to open her mouth again and I sigh. "Fine. Show me." Parker smiles and starts bouncing toward the door of the office. Over her shoulder, she calls, "She's real pretty too!" 

"Oh Lord." I swear under my breath. I know exactly who it is and why she's here. I turn back to Parker. "Why don't you let me take care of this." She looks disappointed. "But I wanna.." I interrupt her. "Parker! Stay here!" She starts to pout and I put my arm around her. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. This is just something I need to take care of myself. OK?" She nods but she doesn't look any happier. "Oh and if I don't come back up, I'll call you later." "Sophie? Why wouldn't you...?" I don't let her finish as I grab my purse and push past her into the hall.

Parker is not wrong. There is a funny looking truck parked at the curb in front of the building. I walk around it to the driver's side. The vehicle is a motor home, the kind where the living part is connected to a truck cab. I peer in through the window but I don't see anyone. I walk back around to the door on the side. It opens and I stick my head in. "Tara?" There is no answer and I step up the first step so I can see farther into the interior. All of a sudden, I am startled by a golden flash. There are 3 steps to my right that I hadn't noticed. Tara launches herself off of them and wraps herself around me. 

"What the Hell Tara?" I say as she starts to kiss me. "We're going camping!" She tells me with a big grin. "We are? I don't remember saying I would go camping." "Well you did!" she says smugly. I shake my head. "I'm pretty sure I never would never agree to this." She's still nodding. "Yes you did. Don't you remember last weekend?" I think back. I remember dining at Ortolon. An apartment on the beach. The rest is a little bit fuzzy. She presses her body into mine. "Don't you remember Soph? You said, and I quote, 'anything you want Tara'. Do you remember now?" I shake my head that I don't. "Well you did, so now you're stuck with it. Find a place to sit." She turns and starts toward the cab.

"Tara...can we at least stop by my flat? So I can get some clothes? And a toothbrush?" "Nope!" she calls over her shoulder. "You won't be needing any clothes." "Tara!" She smiles as I crawl into the passenger seat. "I mean I have everything you need. Still, clothing is optional." I laugh. "I'll keep that in mind."

As Tara pulls, what I have decided to call 'The Beast', away from the curb I glance up to see Parker with her face pressed to the glass in my office. I wave at her out the window and she smiles and waves back.

"So where exactly are we going?" I ask as she deftly navigates the Friday afternoon traffic. "Idyllwild. Don't you remember?" "No, apparently not" I mumble. She gives me a look. "Well, you're just going to have to suck it up and try to have fun. I love it there. Its one of my favorite places." "Fine!" I say but my tone of voice says something entirely different. Another look. "Why don't you take a nap Soph. You look tired." I start to answer her "No I'm fine..." She interrupts me. "No. You're whining. I'll wake you up when there's something to look at. I glare at her but she pretends not to notice. Now that she mentions it, I suppose I am a wee bit tired. I lean my head against the frame of the cab and close my eyes.

The next thing I know, I wake to Tara slowing for a stoplight. "Where are we?" I ask, rubbing my eyes. "We just left San Bernadino." "Where?" We're south east of LA. Well that certainly answered all of my questions. "I know a great little place for dinner before we head up the mountain." "The mountain?" She gives me a look. "San Jacinto Mountains?" "Never heard of them." She rolls her eyes. "Tara, I'm not exactly dressed for the mountains" I say showing off my heels and low cut blouse. She glares at me again. "Will you please stop! I've got it covered." "What about food?" She smiles. "I've got that covered too. We're stopping in Beaumont." "Goodie" I say in Parker's voice. Tara ignores me.

She pulls into a lot in front of a small restaurant called Tacos and Beer. "Oh Hell no Tara! You cannot be serious!" She smiles at me. "Their warm bean dip is to die for." "No!" "C'mon. You can't judge a place just by the name," "Yes Tara! I can. And by the number of pick-up trucks in the parking lot. And so many other things starting with this little hick town." "Sophie..." "No." "Well fine then. I'm going to get something to eat. You stay here. There's some cheese and wine in the fridge. But there's nothing else between here and Idllywild." "Bloody Wanker!" I say under my breath. "What??" "I said I'm coming. And this bean dip better be freaking amazing!" 

Tara is not wrong about the bean dip. She rarely is when it comes to food. I wonder how many dingy places in dingy little towns she knows about. And how many she's planning on taking me to. Probably many many more, I sigh.

We're back in the behemoth and heading up the mountain. I stare out the passenger window, gripping the door rest in fear. The road is narrow and steep and seems to drop off into deep canyons. As Tara takes the sharp turns on what feels like 2 wheels, I watch the side of the road disappear until all I can think about is a fiery plummet to our deaths. Tara looks over at me. "Are you OK? You're white as a sheet." I start waving my hand at her, almost violently. "Bloody Hell Tara! Keep you're eyes on the bloody road!" She laughs but looks back at where she's going. "I've got this Soph. Don't worry so much." "Easy for you to say"I mutter. "What?" "Nothing."

We're silent for a while, mostly because I don't want anything to distract Tara. Finally, she tells me, "you know, from the mountain you can look down on Palm Springs. There's even a gondola ride to the top." I turn to look at her with disbelief. "We're going to be that close to civilization?" "No Soph." "Tara, really! We could have so much fun in Palm Springs! We can stay at The Hotel California. It's a beautiful little place." "No Sophie." "I'll treat you to brunch at FARM in the morning..." She has to think about that one. "I do like that place...their Croque Madame....wait! No! You're not conning me out of this one. You said, and I quote, 'Anything you want Tara'. This is what I want. We're camping, well sort of anyway," "Sort of? You have a hotel room?" She glares at me again. "No Soph! But I did rent this monster just to make you happy, If it was up to me, we'd be sleeping under the stars." Well thank goodness for small favours, I think.

I let Tara drive in peace the rest of the journey while I contemplate how these things keep happening to me. I sigh. It all comes down to one word. Tara. That woman can make me do about anything she wants. She has always been a master manipulator but I was the one who taught her to grift. She's very good at it. Not that she needs to deceive me. I seem to be willing to follow her anywhere just to have a bit of time together. That and the promise of sex. She can talk me into just about anything with a kiss and some wandering fingers. The fact that my current predicament can be attributed to sheer lust doesn't make me feel any better. Well, as long as I'm stuck here, I might as well get something out of it I think as I let my hand fall onto Tara's thigh and give it a squeeze. She smiles at me and I'm pretty sure she can read my mind. 

Tara pulls 'The Beast' off onto a dirt road and we bump along for several miles before she pulls into a campground. She finds a campsite on the back loop of the road encircling the area and backs in. She leaves me in the cab of the truck while she goes to the trailer part and I can hear her crawling around in the space above me. I follow her and find her coming back down the small stairway with warm clothes and tennies in her hand. "Here. I brought these for you." she says as she starts pulling off her clothes and changing into sweats. 

I look at the bundle that she handed me. The warm ups are new but the shoes look familiar. "Tara....Where did you get these? Did you break into my flat?" She just gives me a shrug and a smile. I sigh and start to change when I come up with another question for her. "Where's the loo?" I ask and she points to a narrow door. I open it and look in with dismay. It seems there is just enough room for a small toilet and the whole thing doubles as a shower. "Oh you've got to be kidding me" I say. Tara laughs. "Yeah you're not going to like this part much" she says. "What?" She laughs again. "There aren't any hook-ups and I don't want to have to find a place to dump." "What?" I ask again. "Hook ups? Dump? What exactly are we talking about?" "What we are talking about" she says, "is that this isn't really a functional bathroom right now." "And that means...?" She smiles at me. "What that means is that the 'loo' is out there" she says with just a bit too much humor. "Oh Bloody Hell Tara! What have you done?" She opens a cabinet and pulls out a torch and tosses it to me. 

"No Tara! NO! Absolutely not! There is no way I'm going outside." She laughs at me again. "Its not outside Soph. Its just down the road a bit." "Still no." "Well fine then! Hold it. Its going to be a long weekend." I shake my head. I am fully planning on being in a suite in Palm Springs by tomorrow afternoon. I'll walk down this mountain if I have to. But for now, things are getting a little desperate and I don't seem to have all that many choices, so I reluctantly slip into my tennies and follow her out into the wild frontier. 

Tara walks down the road without turning on her torch. I put mine on and she gives me a dirty look. "What?" She shrugs. "Nothing. I just like it when its dark. There's plenty of moonlight." "I don't want to twist an ankle" I tell her. She shrugs again. "Well just don't ruin my night vision then." I consider turning my light off but I hear scurrying in the bushes next to me and decide that I will tell Tara to sod off if she mentions it again. 

I smell the toilet before I see it. I'm about ready to give Tara another rant when she turns and pulls me to her. I know exactly what she's up to when she puts her mouth to mine. "I don't think you've been properly kissed tonight"she says. "Its not going to work Tara. I'm still really angry at you. And a little disgusted." She laughs. "It was worth a try." she says. "Just don't fall in." "What??!!' She doesn't answer, just heads to one side of the toilet. I take a deep breath of fresh air and try the other side. All I can think about are Tara's words and the disgusting sludge beneath me. Oh and the flies buzzing around are a nice touch too.

I meet Tara back at the road where I breath deeply. "That was the single most disgusting thing I have ever experienced" I tell her. She laughs at me again. "You'll get used to it" "The Hell I will", I think to myself. Maybe I'll forgive her from my cozy hotel room with a proper loo tomorrow. Maybe. Tara takes my hand and we walk back towards the campsite with lights off.

Once inside 'the beast' Tara pulls me into her arms again. "Thank you Soph." "For what?" "For coming along with me. And for being a good sport." "Did I have a choice?" She smiles. "No. Not really." "Mmmm hmmm. You owe me." She laughs. "I do?" "Mmmm hmmm" I tell her. "And I intend to collect." "You do?" "Mmm hmm. Right now." I kiss her. "And again later." I kiss her again. "And tomorrow we're going to Palm Springs and you are paying for the hotel room." "And why would I do that?" She asks playfully. I kiss her again and start my hands up the back of her sweatshirt. She laughs quietly. "Anything you want Soph. Anything you want."


End file.
